Accenture PLC $ACN Shares Sold by UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp

UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp lowered its stake in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 32.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 18,749 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 8,838 shares during the quarter. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp’s holdings in Accenture were worth $5,030,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Accenture by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC now owns 878 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $236,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Clayton Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Accenture by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. Clayton Financial Group LLC now owns 329 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $88,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Holt Capital Advisors L.L.C. dba Holt Capital Partners L.P. lifted its holdings in Accenture by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Holt Capital Advisors L.L.C. dba Holt Capital Partners L.P. now owns 4,416 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,089,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Accenture by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,751 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,108,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IVC Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Accenture by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. IVC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 927 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $249,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In other news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 6,057 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.23, for a total value of $1,461,130.11. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 15,255 shares in the company, valued at $3,679,963.65. This represents a 28.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.14, for a total value of $863,026.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 12,802 shares in the company, valued at $2,267,746.28. This represents a 27.57% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on ACN shares. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Accenture from $300.00 to $230.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 20th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Accenture from $266.00 to $215.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Accenture from $330.00 to $265.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 20th. Guggenheim cut their price target on shares of Accenture from $275.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of Accenture from $280.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $274.50.

Accenture Price Performance

Shares of ACN opened at $180.41 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $120.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.08. Accenture PLC has a fifty-two week low of $172.52 and a fifty-two week high of $325.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The business’s 50-day moving average is $194.89 and its 200-day moving average is $234.53.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last issued its earnings results on Friday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.84 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $18.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.80 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.33% and a net margin of 10.61%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.82 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Accenture PLC will post 13.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be issued a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.40%.

About Accenture

Accenture is a global professional services company that provides a broad range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations. The firm works with organizations across industries to design and implement business transformation programs, deploy and manage enterprise technology, optimize operations, and develop customer and digital experiences. Its offerings encompass management and technology consulting, systems integration, application and infrastructure services, cloud migration and managed services, as well as security and analytics capabilities.

The company delivers industry- and function-specific solutions, combining consulting expertise with proprietary tools, platforms and partnerships with major technology vendors.